(Movie)The Magic of Travel....a look at If it's Tuesday, it Must be Belgium

Comedy and tragedy are two sides of the same coin. On one hand we see humour in the misfortune of others, and yet when it happens to us, we cannot help but hurt. 

Released in 1969, this movie shows the brilliance of subtlety and the brutishness of bravado.

Story/Dialogue:  The story follows a group of colourful travellers who work their way across Europe in a tour bus, guided by a charming British tour guide.

Hilarity ensues in which a man's wife ends up on the wrong tour, a man trying to find his cousin ends up almost getting married and the tour guide trying to make his way into one of the passenger's pants while trying to maintain relationships along his tour route. 

The dialogue is witty and charming. What's funnier still is that you get this sense of everyone having baggage, but rather than having it bore or frustrate you, it only adds to the colourful world you've been caught up in.

Cinematography: This movie's visuals were ahead of their time. The visual effects didn't have that digital feel and thus felt more authentic as a result. 

There was a camera  technique I thoroughly enjoyed, in which a character tried to find a place to escape to and it switched to a POV shot, which, although shaky, was appropriate given the tense circumstances he was in. 

Visually, this movie felt nostalgic in a way that made you miss a place you'd never been to, which is often difficult to find in a lot of today's movies.

Audio: One of the things I loved about the audio is how it incorporated into some of the jokes in the film. Other than this, I felt the music didn't add to the movie, but played it safe. 

Overall: This movie can be described as 'whirlwind.' It picks you up and carries you through the chaos of people's lives and the disasters that happen on the bus tour only to leave you at the airport with your panties on your head and the hangover of a lifetime. Well worth the watch.

4.5 stars